The Decorologist on Color Placement – It's More Important Than You Think

I just staged a property to sell in a high-end suburb of Nashville.  The realtor who hired me sent some preview photos last week, asking what color the dining room should be painted.

DSC_2362before

Let me put you in my shoes – what might you do to make the biggest impact (for the least amount of money) in showcasing this dining room? What kind of impression would you want to make on homebuyers?

One of things I preach in my Expert Psychological Staging course is the power of the right paint color and right paint color placement.  Sometimes when choosing the “perfect” paint color, people apply it in the wrong places with the wrong finish.  The result is lackluster at best, dated at worst.

As soon as I saw the photo above, I knew there were some really great elements in this room that could be better highlighted with the right color placement.  I told the Realtor to have the homeowner to paint the area below the chair rail the same white and same finish as the trim color.  It took a little convincing, but the homeowner agreed and this was the room when we arrived to stage on Tuesday:

7O3A1218

after painting, before staging

Just a few staging tweaks were required at that point, such a change of art, a bit of furniture placement, and tabletop and hutch styling.  There was very little required to turn the “before” into this:

navy blue dining room

after

bamboo lighting dining room

Psychological Staging™ is more than just furniture arrangement and accessory styling.  It’s also about choosing the right paint colors and color placement to get the desired effect.

blue dining room staging

These kind of before-and-after transformations are what I live for!  If starting your own business in the field of design is your dream, you can start by attending my next 3-day course in January to learn my system and become an Expert Psychological Stager™.  There are 5 spots left, so give yourself the gift of a new career this Christmas by signing up here!

navy blue dining room makeover

after

And for the rest of you reading, you have one more day to win a subscription to Everyday Home magazine.  We’re giving away 10 subscriptions, so your odds are great!

15 Comments

  1. MarySue

    Fantastic! It looks so fresh! Wonderful, inviting space!

    Reply
  2. Mary M

    Looks so much better…. If budget allows, I love the look of a rug to warm up the space.

    I have been eyeing that light fixture on Pinterest for some time now. It comes in some really awesome colors!

    Reply
    • Kristie Barnett

      Yes, a great graphic rug would be the perfect edition. I LOVE the painted bamboo fixture – I wish I had a good place to put one in my house!

      Reply
  3. kelly

    Definitely much better color placement! Looks really nice and much more welcoming and put together. Great job!

    Reply
  4. Veronica Tostado-Domurat

    Wow!! I thought that the brown AND the blue were both wrong!! But it was really a matter of changing the brown. Pretty smart!!
    Nice job, congratulations Kristie!!

    Reply
  5. Donna Frasca

    What a beautiful transformation and I love that blue in the dining room. I’ve used a similar one several times and it has such a strong impact. Funny thing about chair rails, I love what you did here but are they really necessary? Often I suggest the same color both on top and bottom to give the room a larger presence. You’re work is so beautiful Kristie 🙂

    Reply
  6. applehillcottage

    Lovely! So glad you took the green ears off the hutch. 🙂

    Reply
  7. Michelle W.

    Oh my how fabulous this looks! Great job Kristie!! Dy. ing. over the light fixture!! Any idea if she wants to sell it before she sells the house? Big thanks!

    Reply
  8. beth lester

    That certainly freshened it up. What is your favorite paint finish? I despise flat paint.

    Reply
    • Kristie Barnett

      I’m with you, Beth. I use eggshell on walls, and semi-gloss or gloss on trim. For below the chair rail in this home, I specified the same finish as the trim (semi-gloss). If you don’t, it won’t look like the same white!

      Reply
  9. Melissa McIlwain

    I like the candle sconces in the DR and use of white with the deep jewel tone blue. Where are the sconces from?

    Reply
    • Kristie Barnett

      Melissa,
      I don’t know where the sconces came from, as they belonged to the homeowner. Sorry! I love them, too 😉

      Reply

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